Oddball

I am Oddball, though not unlike you, am I,

Sitting, head against my locker, one day in July

Clawing, aching, for one reason to get up and bemoan,

A world which I had felt was fairly far from my own,

Overruled by capital, punching holes in the ozone

A world that’s slowly dying,  and yet still they press on,

Building perfect picket fences while their kids mow the lawn,

Kids that likely won’t live to see the light of eighteen,

All because of power struggle, and the thirst for benzene,

All because of vengeance running miles through their veins,

All because of burning greed, driven by insatiable gain,

All because of ” justice” and the need to unmask,

An answer to a question that nobody had asked,

An answer that has cost us all far more than it’s worth,

Bluntly bleeding dry every living thing on this Earth,

My father always told me “Son, you gotta wait to be great,

The future is yours, so start now and create,

Do yourself a favor, and all evil berate

Do yourself a favor, and ignore all the hate

Do the world a favor, know what’s right and instate

Do the world a favor; see the weak through their fate”

Looping in mind, I pushed myself to my feet

Students rushing back and forth, long given in to deceit

The sheltered, shielded ignorance and the nonsense they’d prate

How could I wait to make a difference, when it was almost too late?

How could the future be mine, when there’d be no future worth found?

When all the future held were all our blinded young in the ground?

My generation doomed to die, by the previous’ mistakes bound,

Closed my eyes, bowed my head and cancelled out any sound,

Their time was up, my time was now, the harsh truth had expound,

A girls hand upon my shoulder asking “Are you alright?”,

Mind answered, No I’m not, how could I be, when I'd long lost the fight?

How could I be, when there was no clear future in sight?

Heart rebuked, No, no, a thousand times! It's never too late!

How could I do nothing when there lived those to orate?

How can I sit here, idle, and leave the weak to their fate?

Flooded by fervor, lifted a gun to her face,

In a flash, she fell dead, the first out of this race

A race rigged to lose but so blind to see,

It was my job now, to set them all free,

It was my job now; to make them all see,

It was my job now, amidst the screams and the fear,

To save all I could, from an end, no longer near,

To save all I could, from an end now here,

A second flash, a third, if they knew I’d be thanked,

They could thank me later; I walked on, face expressionless, blank,

One boy scurried to a corner, on his hands and his knees

Ignoring all his begging cries, his bargains, his pleas,

Echoing through the halls, the fourth flash would erupt,

Rest easy now, my brother, though your end is abrupt,

The only way to save our future is guarantee we’re not in it,

To suffer what was forced upon us, from keepers so unfit,

His body lay there lifeless, but I knew he was listening,

Firmed my finger on the trigger, freed blood on me, glistening,

Sirens wailing louder and louder as I proceeded,

A fifth flash, a sixth, their lives to me they’ve conceded,

So it went on for what I’d call a half hour,

Standing atop the roof, the land below, I would scour,

Mind so soothed, rest easy boy, you've saved all you can,

They would soon regret it, imbeciles, the ones that had ran

Police left and right, guns aimed and steady,

What’s the worst they had planned for me, which I had not planned already?

Arms spread wide; I closed my eyes and took flight,

Over the edge, and straight into the light,

Over the edge, into eternity it seemed I’d fall,

The cries and screams frantic, when in my mind I’d drawl,

They would live enough to see their very “future” spall,

Doing then what I did now, making their own beds, in them they’d thrall,

But not me, no sir,

For I am Oddball.